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Plugging in to Audi's E-tron efforts: Autoweek TV

Also in this episode: A new Buick crossover is set for a Detroit debut, Audi plans a rival to the BMW X6 and the number of deaths in highway crashes declines again.

TRANSCRIPT

The weekend is finally here, and we are going to send you off with a Friday dose of Autoweek TV. Let's get started.

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General Motors is set to unveil a new Buick crossover at the Detroit auto show next month. The car will arrive in showrooms in January 2013.

The car will be smaller than the Enclave and might be called the Encore. It will be built on the same front-wheel-drive Gamma platform as the Chevrolet Sonic.

Buick might take styling cues from the Envision concept shown at the Shanghai show earlier this year.

We're hoping for a set of scissor doors.

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BMW better keep an eye out for Audi in its rearview mirror. According to a top Volkswagen exec, Audi will launch a rival to the BMW X6, though there is no word on when these cars will arrive in dealerships

The new X6 rival has been dubbed the Q6 by the media, and it will be a sporty, low-roof crossover set to fill the gap between the Q7 and the Q5. Audi might also add a competitor to the small X4 SUV, which will start sales in 2014.

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NHTSA announced that U.S. highway deaths are down for the fifth consecutive year, bringing them to the lowest rate since 1949, which--oddly enough--is around when seatbelts became available.

These statistics were first reported in 1899, when 26 people died in motor-vehicle accidents.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's signature issue has been distracted driving, which was responsible for 9.4 percent of road fatalities in 2010. Despite those numbers, LaHood says we are making historic progress in improving motorist safety.

Now if we could just get Julie Alvin off the road . . .

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All right, next up we have news editor Greg Migliore with the latest on Audi's electric-vehicle program, known as E-tron.

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Thanks, Greg!

And thank you all for joining us. That's a wrap for today, and make sure to enjoy the drive this weekend.